David Kane wrote:
"The Historian" wrote in message
oups.com...

David Kane wrote:
"Paul Rubin" wrote in message
...
"David Kane" writes:
Newsflash. Games are either won, lost or drawn.
If Black's not going to lose (or win), then it's (dead) drawn.

You want to insist upon the existence of a mysterious
"advantage" that doesn't help you win, be my guest.

Huh? There's nothing mysterious about the concept of advantage.
For example, the starting position is almost certainly drawn, but
White has an advantage.

Why do we say that White has an advantage
in the opening position? Because White *wins*
more often from that position. Period.

Err, David, very few chess games, even in your tournaments, are won
from the opening position. Guess again. The more likely explanation is
that White has the first move, and having the first move constitutes an
advantage - I believe it's been compared to having the serve in tennis.


Still not getting it. If White and Black had equal results
from the opening position, would we still say that
White has an advantage? No. We conclude from
empirical evidence (not help bot's drug-induced
hallucinations) that White wins more often than
Black, so say that White has an advantage.

David Hooper presented a summary of Steinitzian theory in the BCM in
1984:

1. At the beginning of the game the forces stand in equilibrium.
2. Correct play on both sides maintains this equilibrium and leads to
a drawn game.

White is considered to have an advantage because having the first move
forces Black to restore the equilibrium. White wins more often because
it's often hard to find a move that restores the balance against best
play. This is not the same as saying that White wins more because he
moves first, which is what I think you are saying. If you accept the
second 'law' above, you also accept that a chess game can only be lost
because of an error - there are no winning moves, only losing ones,
since best play can only restore equilibrium. Thus, White has an
advantage, but no win, in the starting position.

Just for the record, do you, like helpbot, also believe
that Evans was lying when describing the position
as dead drawn?

I don't have a dog in that fight.